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Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Summer Bummer

What?!?!? What is that - a bird, a plane, no - a bus!

WTF! End of Summer Guide! Already?

It feels like summer finally came to Bellingham just at the beginning of this month, and now everyone is talking about the end of summer, the beginning of school, fall, pumpkins (which I would be lying if I said I wasn't excited about pumpkins), and I am so not ready for it!

I've finally been able to enjoy summer favorites - like a Caprese salad.

Fresh tomatoes and basil from our CSA box, slices of fresh Mozzarella, a little pepper and some balsamic vinaigrette. Such an incredible combination of flavors that just sing in my mouth! I love it.

My early girls are getting a little color too! I suppose that's the bummer about the end of summer - all the wonderful things that we've been waiting to come out of the garden are finally here, and even though I am enjoying them to the fullest it is bittersweet. Harvest means that summer is nearly over, preparations for the winter must begin. I would totally be at the Farmers Market buying up mounds of tomatoes and such to can, but since we're moving in December after I graduate (we're not sure where yet exactly, but stay tuned!) I don't want to bother canning. It just doesn't seem worth the effort if we won't use it all.

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Another bummer: Today (Tuesday the 30th) I am having surgery. I might have mentioned once,or twice, or quite often about how I was sick all spring with a chronic sinus infection. It was terrible - I never had any energy, I couldn't breathe, and I even gained some weight from not being able to be as active as I like to be. I've lost some of it over the summer, but not all of it. And this also means that I will probably not be feeling like doing much of anything for our first wedding anniversary on Labor Day. =(

In the spring I was referred to a specialist and we decided that a good option for me would be to have a simple sinus surgery to remove the nasal polyps that have formed since they are blocking a significant portion of the airflow to my nasal passages, and also to correct my deviated septum. (The other option would be steroid nasal sprays and a lifetime of medication management - and I am not the biggest fan of taking medicine for the long term, or steroids, so I decided fixing it now would hopefully prevent problems in the future.) This picture is a little creepy, and totally creeps Ross out (more reason to post it!) but this is what it looks like:

Unfortunately nasal polyps may happen again, but my doctor is going to try to do as much as possible to open up my sinuses to help me breathe and make it so that when I do get colds in the future there will be room for swelling and for the infection to drain out as opposed to getting stuck in there for months on end. I'm nervous, but I've heard from many people that it is so worth it to be able to breathe and to get over colds easier. And Ross will be there with me the whole time, and that is very comforting. Let's just say I'm excited for two weeks from now. And maybe I'll learn to love winter and spring if I'm not sick throughout the season!